Joe Jukic: Nelly, if you’re looking for redemption, it won’t come from another therapist. You’ve been talking in circles for years, and all it does is keep you trapped.
Nelly Furtado: So what do you expect me to do? Just walk away from all of it? Those sessions are supposed to help me heal.
Joe Jukic: They don’t heal, they bind you. If you want freedom—real freedom—you have to let it go. Stop giving your heart to strangers who profit from your pain.
Nelly Furtado: And where am I supposed to turn then?
Joe Jukic: To God, Nelly. To confession. Go to Father Peter at Our Lady of Fatima in Little Portugal. He knows your people, your roots. He won’t just analyze you, he’ll absolve you. That’s the difference.
Nelly Furtado: Confession? It’s been so long… I don’t even know if I’d have the courage.
Joe Jukic: That’s why it’s called redemption. You give up the weight you’ve been carrying, and you walk out lighter. If you’re serious, Nelly, that’s where the path begins.
Joe: Nelly, I’ve been thinking… you should run for mayor of Victoria. You’ve got the charisma, the voice, the roots. People there would actually listen to you. And after you win, you endorse me for mayor of Vancouver. Two cities, side by side, like twin engines.
Nelly: laughs softly Joe, you make it sound like we’re building an empire. Why Victoria first?
Joe: Because in Civilization II, you can win the entire game with just one city if you play it right. You don’t need a whole continent, just focus, strategy, and vision. But imagine this — if we had two cities, Victoria and Vancouver, working together, it’s like running two parallel engines on one ship.
Nelly: You’re talking like a general again. Or maybe a dreamer.
Joe: Exactly — a dreamer with blueprints. In Civ II, the real win condition isn’t just conquest. It’s building a spaceship and leaving Earth behind. That’s what I want us to do politically — not fight for scraps, but point people toward the stars.
Nelly: So what are you saying, Joe? That mayors could build a spaceship?
Joe: Why not? Right now, Putin and Trump are sitting on stockpiles of nuclear missiles. Everyone fears them because they’re weapons of annihilation. But if we contracted those missiles out — converted the engines, swapped warheads for space modules — we’d be halfway to Mars.
Nelly: shaking her head with a smile Only you would think of turning World War III into a space program.
Joe: That’s the thing, Nelly. It’s not just about politics, it’s about imagination. Instead of two cities being pawns in someone else’s game, Victoria and Vancouver could be the launchpads of a new future.
Nelly: And you think people would follow that vision?
Joe: They followed Kennedy when he said we’d land on the moon. Why not us? The only difference is we’re singing the song of hope in one city, and coding the spaceship in the other.
Nelly: pauses, thoughtful So, mayor of Victoria, mayor of Vancouver… a two-city alliance for the stars.
Joe Jukic: Nelly, I gotta ask you straight—why do you keep sabotaging me? Every time I try to get close to someone, there’s one of your songs in the background, cutting me down. Is this a game to you? If you like me, then let me take you out on a date. Simple.
Nelly Furtado: Joe, you think it’s sabotage, but my songs aren’t daggers pointed at you. They’re just me, my cage, my label, my truth.
Joe Jukic: No, Nelly. Stop squawking in your bird cage and grow a pair. I’m not asking for riddles in music videos or cryptic lyrics. I’m asking for you. Look, I’m leaving this starving country of Canada soon. I’m out. I’m gone.
Nelly Furtado: Leaving? Where?
Joe Jukic: Home. Croatia. For Christmas. But before I go, you’ve got one shot. Make that concert in Victoria. Prove to me you can escape from that record label cage you’ve been locked in. Show me it’s not all smoke and mirrors.
Nelly Furtado: You think a concert could set me free?
Joe Jukic: No. You can set yourself free. But if you don’t… don’t expect me to still be here when the snow melts.
